


Now or Never

by demizorua



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Another Episode, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Mastermind (Dangan Ronpa), Angst, F/F, Mastermind Naegi Komaru, Other, and got attached, anyways here it is, i came up with this like two days ago, it's not happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-04-25 11:46:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14377983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demizorua/pseuds/demizorua
Summary: What if the mastermind behind the Killing School Life wasn't who you thought it was? What if it was someoneoutsideof the school?What if it was one of the supposed hostages?





	1. Never

**Author's Note:**

> _obligatory mastermind au.png._   
>  _well, here this is. i wrote this while on a 8 hour bus ride, so please excuse any errors!_

"Give it up, Junko. The game's over."

The remaining six students watched Monokuma apprehensively. They'd come so far, it was time to finally unmask the mastermind.

"Puhuhu... Puhuhuhuhu! You really think _I'm_ Junko Enoshima? The dead fashionista? Man, for ultimate students, you really are dense!" Monokuma continued to laugh as a thick artificial fog spread through the trial grounds. The bear's sillhouette faded into the mist, and was replaced by a human one. The fog faded, and...

"Ta-da~!" The girl who stood before them was most decidedly _not_ Junko Enoshima. She stood at an average height for her age, which seemed to be only a year or two younger than the students, who looked on in confusion. Her brown hair was cut short, hanging at her shoulders, and was accompanied by a lavish red and gold crown. Her outfit was clearly made to mirror Monokuma, with the blouse, skirt, and tie all bearing the signature split of black and white. The most startling aspect of her appearance, however, was her eyes. One eye was a light, desaturated green color, and seemed devoid of all emotion, empty and cold. The other eye, however, was bright red, and nearly glowed from the sheer manic excitement it held. She held a strange-looking bullhorn, and now twirled it around her finger in excitement.

"Wait... who are you?" Aoi broke the tense silence that had fallen over the room. "I thought the mastermind was Junko...?"

"Nah, could you imagine? That'd be so _booooring_!!" the girl said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "It's just boring old me, Komaru Naegi!" Komaru posed with the now inactive Monokuma, flashing a peace sign at the others.

"Wait... Naegi? Makoto, do you-" Hiro began, but paused when he turned to his classmate. Makoto had a look on his face that can only be described as devastation. Tears were welling up in his eyes as he looked blankly at the floor, wrapped up in his feelings of betrayal and confusion.

"Aww, is big brother happy to see me?" Komaru chirped, bouncing over to him. Cupping his cheek with her hand, she wiped one of the tear tracks beginning to form on his face.

"...Y...You..."

"Hm~? C'mon, speak up brother dearest!"

"Y-you... you didn't... right?" Makoto shook, his voice wavering with uncertainty and a faint hope. "You... didn't kill everyone... did you? Y-you're not the mastermind... y-you... you can't be... K-Komaru?" Komaru giggled, patting Makoto's cheek in a deceivingly affectionate gesture.

"Nope~! It totally was all me, silly~!" She ruffled his hair, quickly striding back to her podium. "Doesn't that fill you with _despair_? Your _beloved sister_ is the devious mastermind behind the death of your friends~! I orchestrated all your suffering- for no reason other than my own enjoyment!" Makoto trembled helplessly, hugging himself desperately. His classmates looked on wordlessly, while Kyoko rushed over to try and console him, gently rubbing his back. The others turned to the giggling girl, glaring at her with all the malice their tired, broken minds could muster.

"H-h-h-how could you?!" Touko cried, taking the initiative to the surprise of the others. "How could you... do something so h-horrible! Why torture some random k-kids you've never met!" Komaru spun to face Touko, a manic grin spreading across her face.

"Never met? Aw, I'm hurt! I know I erased your memories and all, but I thought you'd at least remember me, Touki~!" Spinning the bullhorn once again, she burst into fake tears. "That fills me with so much despair!"

"Wh-what... did you call me?" Touko said, although she'd heard her perfectly the first time. Her mind was racing, and yet time seemed to stand still. Everything came rushing back, and Touko didn't notice the tears streaming down her face, nor the distressed shouts of her classmates.

_Her hands running lightly through her hair, tracing secret messages only they shared_

Touko faintly noted that someone calling her, but they seemed distant, as though it were miles away.

_Her lips on her own, a gentle kiss filled with passion and care_

She realized she had been shaking, her hands trembling like a leaf in a hurricane.

_Her smile, that dammed smile which melted her heart and made her feel safe_

She wanted to scream, but her mouth tasted like cotton.

_Her eyes, watching her in that inquisitive way of hers, sparkling with joy and innocence and love._

Komaru's hands, Komaru's lips, Komaru's smile, Komaru's _eyes_ , which now held none of their innocence, the spark lost. Extinguished. Dead.

Syo stood up, preparing to make her usual charismatic entrance, but something stopped her. The air seemed tense, and the bookworm had fainted, so she supposed something big must be happening. Looking around, Syo glared at the other occupants of the room, trying to piece together what was happening.

That's when she saw her.

"What the fuck? Dekomaru?" Everyone in the room turned to face the killer, including Makoto, who had regained a bit of composure, although he was still reeling from shock. The students looked between Genocider and the younger Naegi, who each seemed to be sizing the other up with a strange familiarity. After a few tense seconds, Komaru finally spoke.

"Gigi! It's so good to see you again~! How long has it been, a year? I wish you'd kept in touch- I _am_ your girlfriend, after all~" The serial killer scowled, eyeing the girl carefully.

" _Girlfriend_?!?" Hiro cried. "Am I the only one missing something here?"

"Puhuhu~ yep! Fukawa here is my lovable girlfriend, both Gigi and Touki! But, you wouldn't remember, would you." Komaru huffed. "Sheesh, I know I had to erase your memories, but it's _soooooo_ boring not being able to talk about old times! At least you remember, right, Gig-"

"Cut the crap!" Syo hissed. Within moments, she'd crossed the distance to Komaru, and now held a pair of her signature scissors to her neck. "Only Dekomaru calls me that- and you ain't Dekomaru!" Despite her situation, Komaru seemed unfazed, simply giggling in response.

"Aww, but I'm the same old Komaru! Nothing different about me, I just got... enlightened."

"Tch, so some half-ass put you up to this. Shoulda known, what with Mack bein so damn incompetent..." Genocider grumbled. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Komaru was pinned to the wall, her shirt collar stuck with a pair of scissors, and another pair held millimeters from her neck. Syo leaned in, her face less than an inch from Komaru's, her face an unreadable mask. "I'm gonna cut ya a deal," she hissed. "You open up the school, and you take us to the source of your _enlightenment_ , capiche?" Although Komaru seemed calm, her red eye was alight with fear and pain.

"And, what if I don't, Gigi~? What then? You gonna _kill_ me?" Komaru giggled, although it seemed more like a wince. "That'd be acceptable, an ending full of such despair as spilling your beloved's blood with your own hands-!" The killer's face was indistinct, and Komaru couldn't gauge her feelings. The rest of the room was silent, watching the exchange anxiously.

Suddenly, Syo did something that shocked them all: she laughed. It wasn't a normal laugh, but a mad cackle, and it sent a shiver throughout the room.

"Ah, sweet little Dekomaru," she began. "I wouldn't dare kill you. No, that's too simple." Her face darkened, a sinister smile spreading across her face. "No... I won't kill you. But by the time I'm done with you, _darling_ ," a chill spread through the air. " **you'll be begging me to**."

"Y-you're bluffing!" Komaru said, although her face said she was less than certain.

"Am I?" The two stared at each other in a standoff for what seemed like hours, silently daring the other to give. 

Finally, Komaru relented. With only a small bow of her head, she signalled to the other that she was done. Syo removed the scissors from her collar, setting her down, but kept a pair at her neck, daring her to try anything. Turning so her face was out of view, Syo let a few tears fall down her cheeks. She was a serial killer, but it still hurt. Knowing that her girlfriend was gone, that someone, some _despicable_ person stole her from her. And it hurt, knowing she'd never be able to get her back. Not completely.

Not ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _if it wasn't clear, the italic segments are flashbacks of things toko's remembering_   
>  _i might continue this with like an aftermath thing, idk._   
>  _if you like tokomaru check out[@ask-tokomaru](https://ask-tokomaru.tumblr.com) on tumblr, this was crossposted on there_


	2. And Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _The aftermath_

Touko placed the cups on the table, filling them with the freshly brewed tea she'd just made. Sipping her own, she carefully watched the girl across from her as she stared emptily at the teacup.

“Thank you, Fu- Touko…”

“I told you, d-don’t force y-yourself… it's just a-an insult to us b-both, Komaru,” Touko sighed. Komaru at least had the presence of mind to look ashamed, but only for a moment. After the incident with Junko, Komaru had fallen silent. For a while she'd chatter on about despair and other such nonsense, but that quickly petered out into a much more disturbing numbness. Despite this, Touko hadn't given up on her. So here she was, trying to get through to someone who couldn't even bear to use her first name.

Things had improved dramatically from two years ago; back then Komaru wouldn't even eat unless forced. Now she was talking and caring for herself, but her movements were painfully mechanical, and she hardly ever showed emotion. It hurt to see her former girlfriend this way, but the thought of abandoning her to waste away in some future foundation prison for the rest of her life was more than she could bear. Syo felt the same, and had mellowed out dramatically, behaving in a much more caring manner towards the despondent Komaru. 

Every now and then, a hint of the old Komaru would shine through the brainwashed shell. Small things; the hint of a smile that for once reached her eyes, a twinkle of emotion, a half-finished doodle left lying around the apartment. It was moments like these that kept the two Fukawas determined to save the girl. The real Komaru was in there, somewhere. And they were going to find her.

Touko had taken to reading to her. Anything she could find, really. If no new books could be salvaged from the world's wreckage, she'd write something. Something sweet, gentle, kind. A far cry from her previous works. A story stitched together from hints of memories, a gentle hand, soft lips, airy, sweet laughter. Syo would pitch in, offering up whatever she recalled for these stories. Maybe it was silly, but Komaru seems to like these more. As much as she could, in this state.

Maybe it was a lost cause. Byakuya and Hiro certainly thought so, constantly criticizing Touko’s devotion. She's too far gone, they'd say, why bother with a despair freak like her. Things like that made Touko realize Byakuya maybe wasn't all that great.

The others were less transparent. Aoi certainly understands, helping in whatever way she could, but Touko knows she worries about her. She didn't want her to become caught up in memories of the past, like she had been out of the game. Touko appreciates her concern, but knows she’s wrong.

Kirigiri is difficult. Makoto clearly supports her endeavors- anything to get his sister back- but she can't read Kyoko as easily. Still, she supposes she isn’t against it, as judged by the occasional gift from the stoic detective. Touko tries to thanks her whenever she can.

Today was nothing special, similar to the rest. Wake up, feed Komaru, spend the day cleaning, writing, whatever she can do to get her mind off things. She sneezed twice today. Syo says Komaru is less afraid of her. That's good. After the fight in Hope's Peak, they were scared Komaru wouldn't be comfortable around them ever again. Progress is being made. That's all they can do.

Touko washes the dishes in silence, listening to the ambience of the apartment. Before the incident, Komaru might've been chattering away about this and that, anything she could think of as long as Touko would listen. Calling her that accursed nickname and all. Even though her refusal to call her by her name indicated guilt, Touko still can't help but wish Komaru would speak to her like she used to. It may be selfish, but it's all she has left.

Sometimes, Touko would sing. Nothing fancy- she's not the SHSL idol, after all- just little tunes. Calm, relaxing melodies, helping the empty, abandoned apartment feel more like home.

“You have a beautiful voice.” It was quiet, any softer and Touko would've missed it. Turning around, Komaru had a small smile on her face. It reached her eyes, twinkling and sparkling in the fluorescent light. A warm feeling settled in Touko’s chest, reminiscent of the stories she told.

Maybe she wasn't the Komaru she remembered, but she was still the girl that she loved.

And that would never change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I wasn't really planning on making a follow-up chapter to this, but here we are! I also rewrote some stuff in the first chapter, since it's really old and had some mistakes. As always, please visit[@ask-tokomaru](https://ask-tokomaru.tumblr.com), and thank you for reading!_


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